AAP October 2025 StatShot Report: Overall Publishing Industry Up 6.7% for Month of October, and Up 0.4% Year-To-Date

Trade (Consumer Book) Revenues Up 3.5% for Month of October, and Down 2.3% Year-to-Date

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for October 2025, reflecting reported revenue for Trade (Consumer Books), Religious Presses, and Professional Publishing.

Total revenue across all categories for October 2025 was up 6.7% as compared to October 2024, coming in at $1.5 billion. Year-to-date revenues were up 0.4%, at $12.4 billion for the first ten months of the year.

Trade (Consumer Books) Revenues

October 

Trade (Consumer Books) revenues were up 3.5% in October at $1.1 billion. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of October, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were up 4.5%, coming in at $521.3 million; Paperbacks were up 1.5%, with $350.6 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 22.7% to $7.9 million; and Special Bindings were down 4.9%, with $26.1 million in revenue. 

eBook revenues were up 1.9% at $88.3 million for the month, and revenues from the Digital Audio format were up 7.3% for October, coming in at $92.6 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were down 21.1%, coming in at $700 thousand.

Year-to-date

Year-to-date Trade revenues were down 2.3% at $8 billion for the first ten months of the year. Hardback revenues were up 0.7% on a year-over-year basis, coming in at $3 billion; Paperbacks were down 6%, with $2.7 billion in revenue; Mass Market was down 21.4% to $77.1 million; and Special Bindings were down 2.3%, with $182.9 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were down 0.2%, as compared to the first ten months of 2024, for a total of $876.8 million. The Digital Audio format was up 1%, coming in at $887.7 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were down 32.7%, coming in at $5 million.

Religious Presses

October 

Religious press revenues were up 10.6% in October, coming in at $102.4 million. Hardback revenues were up 8.6% to $66.8 million in revenue, while Paperback revenues were down 0.1% to $15.6 million. eBook revenues were up 14.3%, coming in at $4.4 million.

Year-to-date

On a year-to-date basis, religious press revenues were up 1.0%, at $741.1 million. Hardback revenues were down 0.4% at $455.7 million in revenue, Paperback revenues were down 4.9% to $129.6 million, and eBook revenues were down 2.2% at $41.5 million.

Professional Books

Professional Books, including business, medical, law, technical and scientific, were flat during the month, coming in at $38.2 million. Year-to-date, Professional Books’ revenues were $352.9 million, down 9.1% as compared to the first ten months of 2024.

AAP’s StatShot

AAP StatShot reports the monthly and yearly net revenue of publishing houses from U.S. sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, and other channels. StatShot draws revenue data from approximately 1,300 publishers, although participation may fluctuate slightly from report to report.

StatShot reports are designed to give ongoing revenue snapshots across publishing sectors using the best data currently available. The reports reflect participants’ most recent reported revenue for current and previous periods, enabling readers to compare revenue on both a month-to-month and year-to-year basis within a given StatShot report.

Monthly and yearly StatShot reports may not align completely across reporting periods, because: a) The pool of StatShot participants may fluctuate from report to report; and b) Like any business, it is common accounting practice for publishing houses to update and restate their previously reported revenue data. If, for example, a business learns that its revenues were greater in a given year than its reports first indicated, it will restate the revenues in subsequent reports to AAP, permitting AAP in turn to report information that is more accurate than previously reported.

AAP September 2025 StatShot Report: Overall Publishing Industry up 14.4% for Month of September, and Down 0.4% Year-To-Date

Trade (Consumer Book) Revenues Up 10.9% for Month of September, and Down 3.2% Year-to-Date

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for September 2025, reflecting reported revenue for Trade (Consumer Books), Religious Presses, and Professional Publishing.

Total revenue across all categories for September 2025 was up 14.4% as compared to September 2024, coming in at $1.7 billion. Year-to-date revenues were down 0.4%, at $10.9 billion for the first nine months of the year.

Trade (Consumer Books) Revenues

September 

Trade (Consumer Books) revenues were up 10.9% in September at $1.0 billion. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of September, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were up 14.5%, coming in at $466 million; Paperbacks were up 15.1%, with $321.6 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 6.5% to $8.5 million; and Special Bindings were up 5.4%, with $28.8 million in revenue. 

eBook revenues were down 7.9% at $85.4 million for the month, and revenues from the Digital Audio format were down 0.6% for September, coming in at $89.1 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were down 41.3%, coming in at $500 thousand.

Year-to-date

Year-to-date Trade revenues were down 3.2% at $6.8 billion for the first nine months of the year. Hardback revenues were flat on a year-over-year basis, coming in at $2.5 billion; Paperbacks were down 7%, with $2.3 billion in revenue; Mass Market was down 21.2% to $69.2 million; and Special Bindings were down 1.8%, with $156.9 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were down 0.5%, as compared to the first nine months of 2024, for a total of $788.5 million. The Digital Audio format was up 0.3%, coming in at $795.1 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were down 34.2%, coming in at $4.4 million.

Religious Presses

September

Religious press revenues were up 21.2% in September, coming in at $92.0 million. Hardback revenues were up 23% to $59.2 million in revenue, while Paperback revenues were up 2.5% to $14.7 million. eBook revenues were up 7.4%, coming in at $4.0 million.

Year-to-date

On a year-to-date basis, religious press revenues were down 0.4%, at $638.6 million. Hardback revenues were down 1.8% at $388.8 million in revenue, Paperback revenues were down 5.5% to $114.1 million, and eBook revenues were down 3.9% at $37.1 million.

Professional Books

Professional Books, including business, medical, law, technical and scientific, were down 12.1% during the month, coming in at $35.2 million. Year-to-date, Professional Books’ revenues were $314.8 million, down 10% as compared to the first nine months of 2024.

AAP’s StatShot

AAP StatShot reports the monthly and yearly net revenue of publishing houses from U.S. sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, and other channels. StatShot draws revenue data from approximately 1,300 publishers, although participation may fluctuate slightly from report to report.

StatShot reports are designed to give ongoing revenue snapshots across publishing sectors using the best data currently available. The reports reflect participants’ most recent reported revenue for current and previous periods, enabling readers to compare revenue on both a month-to-month and year-to-year basis within a given StatShot report.

Monthly and yearly StatShot reports may not align completely across reporting periods, because: a) The pool of StatShot participants may fluctuate from report to report; and b) Like any business, it is common accounting practice for publishing houses to update and restate their previously reported revenue data. If, for example, a business learns that its revenues were greater in a given year than its reports first indicated, it will restate the revenues in subsequent reports to AAP, permitting AAP in turn to report information that is more accurate than previously reported.

Association of American Publishers Files Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs in Thomson Reuters v. ROSS, A Key AI Case

On November 25, 2025, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) filed an amicus brief in the important AI case Thomson Reuters v. ROSS, an infringement suit first brought by Thomson Reuters and West Publishing in May 2020 in response to ROSS’s unauthorized use of copyrighted material to train its AI system, including material that copied and incorporated Westlaw headnotes.  The case is now before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit following the February 2025 opinion of the U.S. District Court for Delaware finding ROSS squarely liable for infringement.

AAP’s brief urges the appeals court to affirm the district court’s decision by similarly rejecting ROSS’s fair use arguments as fundamentally inconsistent with copyright precedent, including by rejecting the premise that ROSS’s unabashed copying for AI training was a transformative use under the first factor of fair use.  Moreover, the brief emphasizes, the district court properly concluded that ROSS’s AI product directly competed with the Westlaw legal research database and would harm the AI training market.

“Delaware was the first in the nation to recognize that usurping copyrighted materials for AI training is infringement not innovation, and that such actions harm the ongoing development and long-term potential of licensing markets,” commented Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers. “There is no sweeping exception to copyright law that gives AI companies a free pass to usurp the expression of authors and publishers for commercial gain.  We hope the Third Circuit will reinforce the rights of copyright owners to authorize, not suffer, the use of their intellectual property in AI products and tools, and to participate financially in the derivative exploitation of their works. Like the many technologies before AI that have leveraged and depended upon valuable works of authorship for profit and success, AI is a market to which copyright owners are fundamentally entitled.”

Excerpts from the amicus brief include:

• Copyright is a “powerful engine of creativity”—a key driver for the vast catalogs of American literature and other creative works that are treasured around the world.  Andy Warhol Found. for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, 598 U.S. 508, 550 (2023).  Marketable exclusive rights have enabled authors and publishers to inform and inspire for generations, and our future society depends on their talents and continued creative contributions. 

• AI developers such as ROSS seek a sweeping expansion of fair use for AI training.  Their fair use arguments ignore markets to which rightsholders are fundamentally entitled and are both exploiting and preparing to exploit, and press for a theory of transformativeness premised on technological innovation instead of a use tied to the protected works that justifies the copying.

• Fair use does not give a free ride at the copyright owner’s expense where a market exists or is likely to develop for AI training.  Recognizing a licensing market for AI training advances the goals of copyright and allows both copyright owners and AI developers to share in the commercial success of AI. 

• The technological innovation of AI is no talisman for fair use, or transformativeness for that matter.  AI tools, like ROSS’s, exploit creative works for their expressive value and for the same purpose, and do not provide any new information or insights about the works to warrant their taking.

• Moreover, the current state of AI is but one moment in technological development and not a reason to eliminate copyright principles that have served this country since the 18^th century.

• [R]ightsholders are not only willing but actually are granting licenses to AI developers seeking to use copyrighted textual works to build and operate their AI tools.

• Licensing for AI training is an actual market that is rapidly expanding—to the tune of $6 billion today and $52.4 billion in a decade.

The chart below lists key licensing agreements for textual works that have been publicly reported.

AAP’s full amicus brief can be found here.

AAP August 2025 StatShot Report: Overall Publishing Industry Down 4.4% for Month of August, and Down 2.8% Year-To-Date

Trade (Consumer Book) Revenues Down 9.4% for Month of August, and Down 5.3% Year-to-Date

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for August 2025, reflecting reported revenue for Trade (Consumer Books), Religious Presses, and Professional Publishing.

Total revenues across all categories for August 2025 were down 4.4% as compared to August 2024, coming in at $1.6 billion. Year-to-date revenues were down 2.8%, at $9.2 billion for the first eight months of the year.

Trade (Consumer Books) Revenues

August 

Trade (Consumer Books) revenues were down 9.4% in August at $791.5 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of August, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 9.2%, coming in at $277.4 million; Paperbacks were down 11.8%, with $280.6 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 16.6% to $6.9 million; and Special Bindings were down 14.1%, with $18.5 million in revenue. 

eBook revenues were down 3.4% at $88.7 million for the month, and revenues from the Digital Audio format were down 2.7% for August, coming in at $87.2 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were down 13.2%, coming in at $500 thousand.

Year-to-date

Year-to-date Trade revenues were down 5.3% at $5.8 billion for the first eight months of the year. Hardback revenues were down 2.9%, coming in at $2.0 billion; Paperbacks were down 9.8%, with $2.0 billion in revenue; Mass Market was down 23.4% to $59.0 million; and Special Bindings were down 3.3%, with $128.1 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were up 0.5%, as compared to the first eight months of 2024, for a total of $703.1 million. The Digital Audio format was up 0.6%, coming in at $673.5 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were down 34.5%, coming in at $3.5 million.

Religious Presses

August 

Religious press revenues were down 7.7% in August, coming in at $75.5 million. Hardback revenues were down 13.5% to $45.7 million in revenue, while Paperback revenues were down 6.1% to $13.8 million. eBook revenues were up 6.5%, coming in at $4.2 million.

Year-to-date

On a year-to-date basis, religious press revenues were down 3.3%, at $547.0 million. Hardback revenues were down 5.3% at $329.6 million in revenue, Paperback revenues were down 6.6% to $99.4 million, and eBook revenues were down 5.1% at $33.0 million.

Professional Books

Professional Books, including business, medical, law, technical and scientific, were down 22.3% during the month, coming in at $31.7 million. Year-to-date, Professional Books’ revenues were $279.6 million, down 9.8% as compared to the first eight months of 2024.

AAP’s StatShot

AAP StatShot reports the monthly and yearly net revenue of publishing houses from U.S. sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, and other channels. StatShot draws revenue data from approximately 1,300 publishers, although participation may fluctuate slightly from report to report.

StatShot reports are designed to give ongoing revenue snapshots across publishing sectors using the best data currently available. The reports reflect participants’ most recent reported revenue for current and previous periods, enabling readers to compare revenue on both a month-to-month and year-to-year basis within a given StatShot report.

Monthly and yearly StatShot reports may not align completely across reporting periods, because: a) The pool of StatShot participants may fluctuate from report to report; and b) Like any business, it is common accounting practice for publishing houses to update and restate their previously reported revenue data. If, for example, a business learns that its revenues were greater in a given year than its reports first indicated, it will restate the revenues in subsequent reports to AAP, permitting AAP in turn to report information that is more accurate than previously reported.

US DISTRICT COURT GRANTS SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND ISSUES PERMANENT INJUNCTION FINDING TEXAS CENSORSHIP LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Ruling Finds Law Violates First Amendment Rights of Booksellers, Publishers, Authors, and Readers

Today, Judge Alan D. Albright of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, partially granted plaintiffs’ request for summary judgment and issued a permanent injunction blocking a vast and burdensome book ratings regime known as the “READER Act” (or HB 900). The judge had previously barred enforcement of the state law in a September 2023 preliminary injunction ruling that was upheld by the Fifth Circuit. 

The following are joint remarks from Valerie Koehler, owner of Houston’s Blue Willow Bookshop; Gregory Day, the Interim General Manager of Austin, Texas-based bookstore, BookPeople; Allison K Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association; Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers; Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild; and Jeff Trexler, Interim Director of Comic Book Legal Defense Fund:

“Today’s decision affirms the constitutional rights of authors, booksellers, publishers, and readers, and protects bookstores from the imposition of an unreasonable law that would have threatened their viability, making it a huge win for Texas businesses. We thank Judge Albright for a critically important ruling that is clear, concise, and extremely well-reasoned.”

Additional Background

Today’s decision stems from a suit first filed on July 25, 2023 by a coalition including Texas bookstores, national booksellers, authors and publishers in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. The suit challenged a Texas law that would have required independent bookstores, national chain bookstores, large online book retailers, book publishers and other vendors to review and rate millions of books and other library materials according to sexual content if those books are sold to public school libraries, and to do so according to vague labels dictated by the state without any process for judicial review. 

Judge Albright granted a preliminary injunction barring the implementation of the law on September 18, 2023. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction on January 17, 2025, noting that “Plaintiffs have an interest in selling books without being coerced to speak the State’s preferred message,” and agreed with Judge Albright’s preliminary injunction that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their First Amendment claims and were “likely to sustain economic and constitutional injuries” if the law remained in effect.

Highlights from the ruling include:

• The Court finds that Plaintiffs have shown there is (1) injury in fact—harm to constitutional rights and economic injury; (2) there is a causal connection between that injury and READER; and (3) a favorable decision would redress their injury. Thus, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have Article III standing.
• The Court rejects Defendant’s attempted characterization of READER. The Court agrees with Plaintiffs that READER is compelling speech and is a bookselling regulation. 
• READER imposes unconstitutional conditions on a party’s ability to contract with the government, because it requires Plaintiffs to surrender their First Amendment rights in order to do any business with public schools. The government may not deny Plaintiffs the right to sell books to public schools on a basis that infringes their constitutionally protected interests. 
• READER unconstitutionally compels Plaintiffs to make controversial statements against their will and accept the TEA’s {Texas Education Agency’s} ratings as their own, in violation of their sincerely held beliefs. 
• READER also compels Plaintiffs to assign ratings to books when they would prefer not to.
• The First Amendment protects against the government compelling a person to speak its message when he would prefer to remain silent or to include ideas within his speech that he would prefer not to include.
• The Court agrees with Plaintiffs as it did in its preliminary injunction order that the Rating Requirements are an unconstitutional prior restraint.
• The Court finds that Plaintiffs have shown they face irreparable harm if READER is not permanently enjoined. 

 The full ruling can be found here.  

AAP July 2025 StatShot Report: Overall Publishing Industry Down 4.2% for Month of July, and Down 2.1% Year-To-Date

Trade (Consumer Book) Revenues Down 11.9% for Month of July, and Down 4.1% Year-to-Date

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for July 2025, reflecting reported revenue for Trade (Consumer Books), Religious Presses, and Professional Publishing.

Total revenues across all categories for July 2025 were down 4.2% as compared to July 2024, coming in at $1.3 billion. Year-to-date revenues were down 2.1%, at $7.6 billion for the first seven months of the year.

Trade (Consumer Books) Revenues

July

Trade (Consumer Books) revenues were down 11.9% in July at $680.9 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of July, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 9.6%, coming in at $203.9 million; Paperbacks were down 14.8%, with $245.7 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 8.5% to $10.2 million; and Special Bindings were up 0.6%, with $19.7 million in revenue. 

eBook revenues were down 3.7% at $87.7 million for the month, and revenues from the Digital Audio format were down 18.5% for July, coming in at $89.4 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were down 52.2%, coming in at $300 thousand. 

Year-to-date

Year-to-date Trade revenues were down 4.1% at $5.0 billion for the first seven months of the year. Hardback revenues were down 0.6%, coming in at $1.7 billion; Paperbacks were down 9.1%, with $1.7 billion in revenue; Mass Market was down 26% to $53.5 million; and Special Bindings were down 1.2%, with $109.5 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were up 1.5%, as compared to the first seven months of 2024, for a total of $614.4 million. The Digital Audio format was up 0.6%, coming in at $614.7 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were down 35.9%, coming in at $3.3 million.

Religious Presses

July

Religious press revenues were down 1.8% in July, coming in at $62.2 million. Hardback revenues were down 4.8% to $34.8 million in revenue, while Paperback revenues were down 0.3% to $13 million. eBook revenues were down 4.6%, coming in at $3.7 million.

Year-to-date

On a year-to-date basis, religious press revenues were flat with a decline of 0.1%, at $471.1 million. Hardback revenues were up 0.3% at $283.9 million in revenue, Paperback revenues were down 6.7% to $85.5 million, and eBook revenues were down 5.8% at $28.9 million.

Professional Books

Professional Books, including business, medical, law, technical and scientific, were down 9.0% during the month, coming in at $35.3 million. Year-to-date, Professional Books’ revenues were $247.9 million, down 7.9% as compared to the first seven months of 2024.

AAP’s StatShot

AAP StatShot reports the monthly and yearly net revenue of publishing houses from U.S. sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, and other channels. StatShot draws revenue data from approximately 1,300 publishers, although participation may fluctuate slightly from report to report.

StatShot reports are designed to give ongoing revenue snapshots across publishing sectors using the best data currently available. The reports reflect participants’ most recent reported revenue for current and previous periods, enabling readers to compare revenue on both a month-to-month and year-to-year basis within a given StatShot report.

Monthly and yearly StatShot reports may not align completely across reporting periods, because: a) The pool of StatShot participants may fluctuate from report to report; and b) Like any business, it is common accounting practice for publishing houses to update and restate their previously reported revenue data. If, for example, a business learns that its revenues were greater in a given year than its reports first indicated, it will restate the revenues in subsequent reports to AAP, permitting AAP in turn to report information that is more accurate than previously reported.

FAQ for Publishers: Bartz v. Anthropic

On September 25, Judge Alsup, of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, granted preliminary approval of the parties’ proposed settlement of certain infringement claims in Bartz v. Anthropic, an agreement that requires Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion dollars to the authors and publishers of nearly half a million books it downloaded from notorious pirate sites to feed AI models.

A Q&A on the proposed settlement for publishers can be found here.

AAP Applauds Court’s Preliminary Approval of Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement

Today Judge Alsup, of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, granted preliminary approval of the parties’ proposed settlement of certain infringement claims in Bartz v. Anthropic, an agreement that requires Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion dollars to the authors and publishers of nearly half a million books it downloaded from notorious pirate sites to feed AI models.  Anthropic, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is currently valued at $183 billion dollars, five times larger than the aggregate revenue of the U.S. publishing market last year. 

Statement from AAP President and CEO Maria A. Pallante:

This settlement is a major step in the right direction in holding AI developers accountable for reckless and unabashed infringement.  Piracy is an astonishingly poor decision for a tech company, and—as the settlement figure demonstrates—an expensive one.  The law should not reward AI companies that profit by stealing.

As it becomes clearer and clearer that one AI company after another has helped itself to the intellectual property of authors and publishers, we hope that courts will recognize that the unlicensed, carte blanche use of copyrighted works for AI training is not transformative and not fair use.  Rather, it flies in the face of the Constitutional objectives of copyright law and undermines the full and safe potential of AI for all of us.  AI companies have an interest and a responsibility to respect and sustain the very industries they rely on to advance their technology.  They have a duty to share the tremendous commercial value they have achieved in no small part from the talents and investments of creators.  

Anthropic is hardly a special case when it comes to infringement.  Every other major AI developer has trained their models on the backs of authors and publishers, and many have sourced those works from the most notorious infringing sites in the world.  This conduct isn’t only an attack on copyright law; it’s an astonishing breach of trust with their AI customers and our future society.

Make no mistake that the court’s preliminary approval of this settlement is a very big deal and cause for celebration in the AI copyright docket.  It would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts of publishers and publishers’ coordination counsel, authors and authors’ coordination counsel, and class counsel, all working together in the interests of all class members. We also recognize the bravery of the three original authors in the underlying suit.”

AAP will continue to speak with and be available to counsel on legal and industry questions in this case, and as notice and claims details move forward, we will continue to request and broadly share that information with the publishing community. 

AAP Opens 2026 PROSE Awards

Submissions Wanted for Outstanding Professional and Scholarly Works Published in 2025

The Association of American Publishers is now inviting entries for its prestigious PROSE Awards for eligible works published in the United States in 2025. Submissions will be accepted from September 22^nd through midnight ET November 10^th. 

The PROSE Awards recognize the very best professional and scholarly works across five official category areas: Biological and Life Sciences, Humanities, Physical Sciences & Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Reference Works.   Publishers are eligible to win a series of excellence awards as well as the prestigious R.R. Hawkins Award.  

AAP’s PROSE Awards have recognized scholarly works of authorship since 1976.  Submitting publishers must be a member of either the Association of American Publishers (AAP) or the Association of University Presses (AUPresses).  All entries must have a 2025 copyright, and the submission fee per entry is $115.  

To submit an entry, please click here.

For guidelines, FAQs, and past winners, please see here.